Koren Shadmihttp://korenshadmi.com
Koren Shadmi is a Brooklyn based illustrator and cartoonist.Wed, 01 Jul 2015 15:48:26 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1Visiting Louisvillehttp://korenshadmi.com/news/visiting-louisville/
http://korenshadmi.com/news/visiting-louisville/#commentsMon, 06 Apr 2015 20:37:37 +0000Korenhttp://korenshadmi.com/?p=2078Read More...]]>Last week I returned from a month long residency in the city of Louisville with IDEAS - a non profit art organization that helps connect artists with corporations with the goal of improving Louisville as a city and community. IDEAS assigned me to do a project for the office of the mayor of Louisville. The challenge: create an art object that will help get individuals and companies involved in a very special program: The Mayor's Summer Works. Here's a little sneak peak into the project, which is in the works now:

In addition to working on Summer Works project, I also had a showcase of my illustration work in Zephyr Gallery in Louisville, as well as an artist talk and slideshow.

I've always fantasized about moving to France. I've visited often and even lived at times with friends in Paris and various towns around the country. Most of my books have been published there, and the comics community in France is a family. Everyone knows everyone. At the many comic shops and festivals I've been to over the years I have consistently received warm welcomes. I suppose you could say I'm a Francophile when it comes to comics.

One month ago I was having a signing at a little comic-book shop in the 11th arrondissement in Paris. It was rainy out and not a lot of people showed up, but the mood was good, and the shop owner was more than hospitable. There was another American author there, cosplaying as "unemployed man." We were both signing, drawing, and chatting with the shop's clients. After the signing we all headed to a little Korean restaurant nearby to talk comics and drink Korean beer. It was a good time, something that seems to happen often when I'm in that city in the company of other comic-book lovers.

The following day I met up with my friend Nicolas in the same neighborhood. We walked down the little boulevards and sleepy alleyways talking comics. During the stroll we passed through the narrow Rue Nicolas Appert. A month later, terrorists would come to that same street, shouting praise to Allah and executing their victims. I had no idea at the time that we were walking right below the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo. My friend told me all that later.

The methodical, horrific murder of the Charlie Hebdo team is a bigger deal for the French than most of us realize. The French live and breath comics; they have a special relationship with them, a relationship that goes back to childhood, when they were reading Asterix and Tintin—Franco-Belgian staples of the medium. This massacre, for some, was like seeing a beloved part of their childhood assassinated.

Cabu, one of the slain cartoonists, was part of a popular 80s TV show for kids called Récrée A2, where he would do live drawings on air about daily topics. Almost everyone in France who grew up during that time watched it. Cabu also created the popular comic book series Le Grand Duduche, which many in that country read in their youth. George Wolinski had a popular weekly cartoon in the magazine Paris Match, and created the famous erotic comic series Paulette. And Charb, the

magazine editor, had his own popular cartoon strip Maurice et Patapon. This is not just a random group of people who were killed, but beloved celebrities. Yes, in France cartoonists are celebrities!

In addition to being comics lovers, there's one other thing that the French are—opinionated. The general PC attitude that turns a lot of conversations in the US stale doesn't really exist over there. Charlie Hebdo was part of that no PC bullshit French attitude—we have opinions and we are going to state them—with humor! In fact, their main agenda was to mock every sacred cow they could set their sights on.

But the tides are changing, even in the old country; certain subjects are becoming taboo, and all things Muslim are falling into that category. You can discuss some political subjects, but others are out of bounds. People are afraid of stepping on some big religious toes, or sometimes they prefer to look the other way. But the Charlie Hebdo team wasn't afraid.

My friend, who has been working in the French comics industry for more than 12 years, helped explain to me the scope of this event. According to him, everyone in France knew Charlie Hebdo. Some loved it and some hated it, but it was a permanent part of the landscape, like a giant steel hand giving the Eiffel tower the middle finger from the other side of the Seine. The magazine's editorial team was fearless; there was no subject they dared not tackle, often in graphic and hilarious ways. The magazine's editor explained in 2011: "We are against all religious fundamentalism but we are not against practicing Muslims. We are for the Arab Spring, and against the winter of fanatics."

But Charlie Hebdo is hardly a pioneer. It is part of a long tradition of satirical cartoons in France—Honoré Daumier contributed timeless satirical illustrations to the magazine La Caricature in the early 1800s, but even his relentless attacks of King Louis Philippe did not lead to his assassination. Is humanity regressing?

In 2011 a firebomb was thrown into the Charlie Hebdo offices in retaliation for an issue they had printed earlier that year featuring Muhammad on the cover as the "guest editor" and promising "100 lashes if you don't die laughing." Even after this terrifying attack the magazine team kept on producing sharp satire, undeterred by the threat. Four years later, they ended up paying a dire price for their bravery. As a cartoonist, I truly hope that their deaths will resonate in the proliferation of daring, opinionated cartoons and not lead to more fear and silence. As for Charlie Hebdo, the magazine will once again lead that charge when it publishes 3 million copies of its latest issue on Wednesday.

]]>http://korenshadmi.com/news/charlie-hebdo/feed/0Terraformhttp://korenshadmi.com/news/terraform/
http://korenshadmi.com/news/terraform/#commentsTue, 09 Dec 2014 02:49:21 +0000Korenhttp://korenshadmi.com/?p=2050Read More...]]>I'm very excited to be part of Motherboard's Terraform, a new cutting edge Sci Fi site on the Vice network. Every week Terraform will have a new sic-fi story with an emphasis on near future fiction and 'close to home' subject matter.

I created the banner art for the site, inspired by the stories J.G Ballard; depicting a dystopian landscape, a modern city reclaimed by nature . The Banner art has also been animated into a gif by the talented Gustavo Torres (who is also a contributing illustrator).

I will be contributing visuals to upcoming stories on terraform, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, here are illustrations from some of the first stories posted on the site:

King Tide - This story by Alsion Wilgus envisions a bleak and wet future for Brooklyn.

If you are a writer and want to submit your stories to Terraform (and possibly have me illustrate them) you can do so here.

]]>http://korenshadmi.com/news/terraform/feed/0Festivalshttp://korenshadmi.com/news/festivals/
http://korenshadmi.com/news/festivals/#commentsFri, 17 Oct 2014 12:59:46 +0000Korenhttp://korenshadmi.com/?p=2041Read More...]]>November will be a busy month! I'm going to table at C.A.B - Comics Arts Brooklyn on November 8th, I'll have some prints, mini comics and other goods (ill be at table D31). There's an impressive list of guests this year, including Charles Burns, Art Spiegelman and Raymond Pettibon. If you're in NY, you should stop by, it's free!

And on November 14 I'll be in the Colomiers comics festival in the south of France, and will be doing signings in Paris the following week.

]]>http://korenshadmi.com/news/festivals/feed/0Mike’s Placehttp://korenshadmi.com/news/mikes-place/
http://korenshadmi.com/news/mikes-place/#commentsWed, 24 Sep 2014 14:40:39 +0000Korenhttp://korenshadmi.com/?p=2007Read More...]]>For the past year and a half I've been working on a graphic novel for First Second Books, Written by Jack Baxter and Joshua Faudem, this is a a true account of the terrorist attack that happened in 2003 in the bar Mike's Place, in Tel Aviv. You can read more about the book in this Washington Post article.

Coming up with concepts for the book cover was a challenge, since there is such a wide microcosm of characters in the story, I didn't want to concentrate on one specific character in the cover. Instead I decided it would be better to go with something more iconic. The editor, Mark Siegel, directed me to come up with visuals that felt like a novel, or adult non-fiction cover. Below is the first and second set of thumbnails I came up with:

Once the editor zeroed in on what felt like the right cover thumb, I came up with a more detailed sketch (below), I was asked to add a crowd, showing that the bomber was approaching the bar, which would contribute to the drama:

Finally, it was time for color; I wanted vivid warm colors that hinted of the coming explosion, and possibly of an overbearing middle eastern heat. I also wanted a stark contrast between the terrorist and the crowd. Here's the final result:

And finally the cover design:

Mike's Place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv will be coming out in Spring 2015 from First Second Books.

]]>http://korenshadmi.com/news/mikes-place/feed/0Coupes à Coeurhttp://korenshadmi.com/news/coupes-a-coeur/
http://korenshadmi.com/news/coupes-a-coeur/#commentsThu, 14 Aug 2014 13:43:04 +0000Korenhttp://korenshadmi.com/?p=1997New book out in France, featuring five short novellas. If you are in Paris, pick up a copy!

]]>http://korenshadmi.com/news/coupes-a-coeur/feed/0Snapshots From Israelhttp://korenshadmi.com/news/snapshots-from-israel/
http://korenshadmi.com/news/snapshots-from-israel/#commentsMon, 11 Aug 2014 15:55:43 +0000Korenhttp://korenshadmi.com/?p=1988Read More...]]>I've just returned from visiting my family in Israel, it was a very strange experience being there during wartime (the government still calls it 'An Operation' - but, really, it's a war). There was nervousness in the air, the streets were empty and coffee shops desolate. People were mostly staying home, afraid of the missile attacks and transfixed with the news. Why did I come during this time? I could have postponed my visit and come when the fighting was over, But it was important to be with my brothers and parents during this time, and to experience how much really is at stake.

I felt like I wanted to show people how surreal and strange my visit turned out to be. I was lucky that art director Matt Dorfman saw the potential and helped place this in the Op-Ed section of the NYTimes. I've worked with the Times for many years, but it's the first time something I've authored is up, so I'm very grateful and humbled. You can read the comic here.

A new limited edition print - 'Nebula' - will be available on the websotre on Friday, June 27 at 10AM (Eastern US Time). This is an edition of 50, signed and numbered, on 310 gr Hahnemühle Fine Art Paper.

]]>http://korenshadmi.com/news/nebula/feed/0My Mother, My Mirrorhttp://korenshadmi.com/news/my-mother-my-mirror/
http://korenshadmi.com/news/my-mother-my-mirror/#commentsThu, 12 Jun 2014 15:07:37 +0000Korenhttp://korenshadmi.com/?p=1954Illustration for Washingtonian Mom Magazine - a personal essay about a woman who's mom's opinions still haunt and shape her life, as she struggles with issues of self worth. The illustration was very nicely incorporated into the text on the site. Special thanks to AD Michael Goesele for commissioning this.